batman wrote on 02/14/18 at 11:41:55:


I don't ride when it's cold, so that's fine.

a fast looking muffler  

That's a good start, but you need to paint it red or a vibrant yellow.
Those are the fastest colors.
I can't Believe you don't know that.

100 octane AV gas is great if your bike runs at 8000ft an you want to cruise at a steady 3400 rpm ,if not ,don't bother. "I wouldn't mind E85 so my bike will run cooler" it won't! when you jet up 33% to replace the power you lost ,you'll have the same combustion temperatures, and half the mileage. why bother?

kojones wrote on 02/15/18 at 08:01:48:


Converting your Savage to run on ethanol or E85 is far beyond the ability of most of us on this forum.   I feel that trying to run E85 in an engine with 8.5:1 compression is going to significantly reduce the power and mpg you can expect....and it will likely start and run poorly.  (I have a friend that runs 100% ethanol in his drag race car - and he and all the others in his class need to squirt gasoline down the carb to get the engine to start).  You would probably need to raise the compression ration up to the 14:1 kind of numbers that start to make ethanol performance reasonable.  I seriously doubt the stock starter motor can overcome that kind of compression......on my 10.5:1 compression Savage engine the starter can't get the engine over TDC if the engine happens to be on the compression stroke when you hit the starter button.

The other issue that is of concern to me - is that ethanol is corrosive to aluminum and steel.  Cars/trucks that are built to run E85 have fuel systems that are not bothered by ethanol.....your Savage does not have anything to protect the fuel tank or float bowl from ethanol.

If you want to continue down this path....you need to do a lot of reading and planning, and you might want to get a second bike so you have something to ride while you are experimenting.

Do a search...and you can find a lot of reading material.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp-0611-e85-ethanol-fuel-test/

http://www.onallcylinders.com/2015/11/20/ask-away-with-jeff-smith-what-is-saf...

Dave wrote on 02/15/18 at 08:25:40:


Mine with a 10,5 to 1 CR turns fine, even without the decompression solenoid. Not going to do any further modifications to the engine, but if all it needs is some new jets then I would give it a try.

However, corrosion of the aluminium and brass parts is something I'd like to avoid.

kojones wrote on 02/15/18 at 11:51:27:


The ethanol issue is a bit controversial.  Ethanol is made form corn in the US, and the farmers use diesel fuel to do the planting, harvesting and transportation of the corn.....then more energy is needed to process the corn into ethanol.  Some folks claim it takes more energy to make the ethanol than it returns.....and the cost of the ethanol is subsidized by the US Government to make it cost less at the pump, and they are using our tax dollars to help finance a money losing scheme (in an effort to reduce the US dependency on foreign oil and satisfy the EPA lobbyist).  The ethanol is also supposed to burn cleaner (but I don't know if they take into account the tractors and trucks and plants it took to grow the corn and convert it to ethanol.  It is kind of ironic that the machinery used to create the ethanol uses other fossil fuels in the process.

I still think ethanol is a cruel joke on the consumer!